Headed Somewhere

This Sunday’s sermon — a Part Two on Exodus 34 — will take us to 2 Corinthians 3:18, where the apostle Paul writes: 

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 

Christians are being transformed — the Bible is clear about this. The fact of our transformation/renewal/growth is actually an important theme throughout Paul’s letters:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. … (Romans 12:2)

Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

… put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator (Colossians 3:10) 

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

As we are united to Jesus by faith, we are increasingly being conformed to his image (see Romans 8:29).  This is often called “progressive sanctification,” but I think the more biblical category is simply “renewal” — which is the evidence of both salvation past and salvation future. 

Propelled and Pulled

Here’s one way to consider it: is our Christian life an extension of God’s past work or the beginning of God’s future work?

The answer is both. 

“Is our Christian life an extension of God’s past work or the beginning of God’s future work?”

We live, right now, in the light of our conversion — when we turned from sin to Jesus and were justified by faith. Through faith in Jesus, God declares us righteous, not on the basis of our works, but because of the perfect life and atoning death of Jesus. We are united to Jesus forever, sealed by his Holy Spirit, the bond of our union. We live right now from this reality. 

And, also, because God promises to glorify us in the future, at the resurrection, we live right now unto that reality (Romans 8:23–24; 1 Corinthians 15:49). As one author puts it, “Our renewal is a present experience of glorification through the Spirit, anticipating the glorification that will come with the resurrection of our bodies” (David Peterson, Possessed by God, 133).

It’s almost like we’re being propelled forward by our justification (behind us) and pulled forward by our glorification (ahead of us), and what holds it all together is our union with Jesus taking us forward. Because of him, in him, and unto him, we are headed somewhere. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 puts us, we are “being transformed [into the image of Jesus] from one degree or glory to another.”  

Evidence of Grace

Our understanding of how this happens is key — there’s a ton to say on this topic and we’ll get there in Galatians (starting January 2022, God willing) — but for now get this nailed down: the progression of our Christlikeness doesn’t come by our achievements, but by the Holy Spirit. 

“The progression of our Christlikeness doesn’t come by our achievements, but by the Holy Spirit. ”

We’re not trying to climb a spiritual ladder or master certain levels of spiritual activity in order to be transformed. Our transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit — more certain than the rising sun — and what that means for the way we live is that we produce signs of a transformed life. 

Our character, our behavior, our decisions — the means of grace we avail ourselves to — are all evidences of the Holy Spirit’s transforming power. These things don’t effect our transformation by themselves, but they’re often signs that transformation is happening. And as signs, they are visible and observable.

We should be able, at some level, to assess our walk and take note of these signs — to see the evidence of God’s grace in our lives and in the lives of our church family. 

It’s for these reasons that the pastors are encouraging all of our covenant members to complete a spiritual growth assessment here at the end of 2021 (similar to the one we did in 2019). I’ll explain more about the assessment next week, but this is just a heads up that we’re working on this tool and I’m excited to roll it out soon. 

Looking forward to worshiping Jesus with you tomorrow, 

Pastor Jonathan